The shipping industry needs to act quickly to ensure that By 2030, scalable, zero-emission fuels can represent 5% of the total amount of fuel used by the international sea freight. This is underlined by the report "Climate action in shipping. Progress towards shipping's 2030 breakthrough" carried out by the consulting firm UMAS is promoted by the organizations Getting to Zero Coalition and Race to Zero, which was unveiled today as part of the annual summit of the Global Maritime Forum taking place in Athens.

The report identifies the way forward for the Decarbonization of shipping by taking into account the defined milestones at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Reduction of at least 30% in transport emissions by 2030 compared to the 2008 level, and then rise at least 70% by 2040 and achieve zero emissions in 2050. This summer, on the occasion of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee session ( of 7 July 2023), it is planned that by 2030 at least 5%, and hopefully up to 10%, of the energy consumed international maritime transport, which on that date - recalls The report presented today - is expected to be more of 12 exajoules, is produced from zero-emission marine fuels or close to zero. The report specifies that the 5-10% share of these fuel types represents a minimum of 0.6 exajoules, a figure equivalent to 15.8 million tonnes of fuel oil or 5.3 million tonnes of hydrogen, and that this, converted into possible demand for Scalable Zero Emission Fuel (SZEF), is equivalent to approximately 29.8 million tonnes of ammonia or 28.1 million tons of methanol. SZEF fuels taken into account Consideration from the report does not include biofuels, fuels cleaner fossil fuels, including liquefied natural gas, and other "blue" fuels.

The report highlights that current fuel production Zero-emission shipping could cover only a quarter of the fuel necessary to achieve these decarbonisation targets shipping. However, the document specifies, if different projects for the production of these fuels should have success, the production of zero-emission fuels could result in double than necessary, also taking into account the fuel needs of other sectors.

So why does the report urge the industry to shipping to intensify its efforts? Because," he explains, The sector is lagging behind in terms of the type of ships that can be powered by these fuels: "At the end of 2022 - The document specifies - there were 24 ships capable of operating with the SZEF (mainly methanol) and there are currently about 144 of them in (largely able to work with methanol). However, the research points out, today's indicators appear too weak to meet the trajectory of SZEF demand of 0.1 exajoules by 2025 and represent a challenge to the demand of 0.6 exajoules by 2030. Of 0.1 exajoules of SZEF that could be required by 2025, Current fleet growth projections will be able to use SZEFs, excluding liquefied natural gas, could Create about 0.03-0.05 exajoules (30%-50% of 0.1 exajoules) of potential demand for SZEF. This means that the second half of this decade to achieve the compatibility of the fleet with the SZEFs'. The Relationship points out that, while orders for methanol-fuelled vessels have made headlines, continuing with the current trend of orders could insuring only one-fifth of the ships needed to reach the objectives.

"With the revision of the IMO's Greenhouse Gas Strategy - noted Jesse Fahnestock, project director at the Global Maritime Forum - the direction of travel of the sector is albumen. Especially in these early years, we need to be able to assess how fast we are moving in that direction. This report highlights that the industry is progressing, but that However, action must be accelerated."

"The technology to facilitate production, distribution and bunkering of SZEFs - noted James Stewart, Research Assistant at UCL, Consultant to UMAS, and co-author of the report - is progressing well. However, the scope of the increase in the remainder of the decade is not Guaranteed. To be fully aligned with the objective of 5% by 2030, all sectors of industry maritime sectors must rally around their historic ambitions set out in the IMO GHG Strategy of 2023 and work towards establish a strong demand base for SZEFs, thereby providing producers the confidence they need to invest in new capacity projects'.

"The data," added Vishnu Prakash, co-author of the report - suggest that clear signals are still missing from the shipowners to take long-term decisions towards ships capable of using sustainable zero-emission fuels and with the least degree of uncertainty from a commercial point of view, despite the fact that the sector is at a critical stage in which it is Significant structural change is needed. It is therefore imperative that rules and incentives enter into force as soon as possible rigorous, effective and useful to catalyze the transition necessary'.